Refrigerator



" April 1 ,1924. I

' G. J, GRUENDLER REFRIGERATOR 7 Filed Noin 9. 1.921

' Patented Apr. 1, l92d.'

GUSTAV .T. GRUENDLER, 0F CLAYTON, MISSOURI.

REFRIGERATOR.

Application filed November 9, 1921.

,To all whom it may concern:

the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

' My invention relates to refrigerators and more particularly to refrigerators having an ice container which consists of an upper receptacle having a plurality of downwardly extending legs adapted to be filled with ice.

From practice it has been learned that if the air in a refrigerator be passed over ice the cooling efl'ect of the ice will, to a great extent, purify the foul air sometimes found in 'refri erators and will prevent obnoxious odors. erely passing the air over a block of ice will not suffice to accom lish efiiciently the reatest result in puri cation of the air; an it is preferable to allow the air to circulate around and between small pieces 'tioned above.

of chipped ice such as are usually placed in the legs of an ice container such as men- The ob'eots of m invention are to provide a refrigerator aving. an ice container so constructed as to effectually purify the air in a refrigerator; to provide in a refrigerator an ice container wherein the air in the refrigerator may circulate around and come in contact with the ice in the container; to provide in a refrigerator means whereby air may enter the ice container thereof and may circulate in all directions around the ice in the container; and to pro vide in a refrigerator an ice container provided with passages extending from side to side and upwardly from the bottom "thereof through whichair may pass into or from the upper part of the container and thus be allowed to circulate around and come in. contact with the ice in said container.

My invention is fully shown in the accompanying drawings wherein similar letters are used to designate similar parts. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the ice'oonta'mer of a refrigerator showing how it may be arran. ed with wheels on its lower sides so as to e slidably mounted on tracks which may be extended from. the refrigerator so that the container may be partially removed Serial No. 514,006.

therefrom when it is to be charged; Fig. 2 1s a view in section showing the ice contamer in place in the ice chamber of the refrigerator.

Referring to the figures, the ice container of the refrigerator M comprises the upper bod portion A adapted to be filled with we when in small pieces, in a sin lo large block,'or a number of blocks; an having the downwardl extending legs B which are adapted to be illed with chipped or broken ice, preferably small pieces. The ice contamer may'have the wheels C arranged on the shafts D on the lower portion of its sides near the corners thereof, as shown in Fig. 1. The wheels C are, preferably, held on the shafts D by the cotter pins E, but, of course, any other means suitable for the purpose may be used. The wheels 0 are grooved so as to roll along the tracks F which may be extended, as will'be hereinafter described, from the refrigerator M wherein the ice container is to be used. If the ice container is mounted on these tracks, as is the preferable construction, when the container is to be charged it is rolled outwardly from the refrigerator along the tracks F and thus partially removed from the refrigerator so as to be quickly and easily filled with ice.

Air passages G open at the bottom and at the to are provided between adjacent legs B,'-an the walls thereof may be arran d with the flanges H as shown in Fi 2. lie guards J are positioned above 51c u per end of the passages G to revent ice om entering said passages; an are, preferably, formed with sloping sides meetin in a.

peak, as shown in the drawings, an with the downwardly extending flanges at the outer ends of the sides so thatwhen chipped or broken ice is poured into the container onto the guards it will be deflected thereby into the legs and will be revented from entering the passages Gr. T p e guards J are arranged so that a spacethrough which air may pass is left between the under sides thereof and the open tops of the air pse-' sages G and are attached at their ends to the walls of the upper receptacle A. In addition the guards ma be supported at intervals in an suihb e manner on the 11 per ends of tie walls of the passages G. Since the legs B extend downwardl from the upper receptacle A, which is led or partia 1y filled with ice, the openings between the guard J and the upper ends of the walls of the air assages G will be PQSI'. t'ioned so that air rom the lower portion of the refrigerator M will be allowed to enter the ice container not only at the top, bottom and sides thereof, but at the middle ortion thereof in the midst of the ice, and liencethe air may circulate in alldi rections through the spaces between the p eces of chipped or broken ice. surrounding the openings; The lower ends of the legs B are provided J with openings, such as" the sl ts K, whereby the waterfrom the melted we will drain out of the container. The legsB are, preferably, made narrower at the bottom, as shown in Fig. 2, and hence the passages G will be widest at the bottom and tapering intoward the top.

In Fig. 2 the ice container is shown in "place in the ice chamber L which has the opening N in the front thereof through which the ice container may be partially removed when it is ,to be charged. ,The

tracks F are, preferably, positioned above the'fioor of the ice chamber, as shown, so

that the air in the refrigerator will be al lowed to circulate underneath the ice container in the ice chamber. have the pivotaljoint 0 near the middle thereofso that a portion of the tracks may be swung upwardly inside the opening N in the position shownby the dotted lines in Fig. 2.. ,lVhen the door which is not shown but which normally closes the opening N,.

is open, the tracks F are swung downwardly to extend outwardly from the refrigerator M so that the ice container may be rolled outwardly thereon and be partially removed from the refrigerator.

In use the ice container is filled with chipped or broken ice after being partially removed from the refrigerator M as described, and is then rolled back along the track E into the ice chamber adapted to re ceive it. Air from the refrigerator will enter the ice chamber L in which the ice container is placed and, since the warin foul air or gases rise, such air will enter the upper part of the ice chamber and will go into the top of theice container. The air will circulate" betweenthe passages of ice in thenpper portion andmost of the air will pass through the openings lnthe top of the passa es G.

Any moisture in the air will be condensed on the metal walls of the passages G. The air or gases by coming in contact with the ice will be purified and cooled, andan condensation therefrom will be drained 0; with the water from the melted ice, through the slits K in the bottom ofthe legs B. This circulation of air through the chipped or broken ice will not only purify the air in the refrigerator, but will also greatly increase the efficiency of the refri erator as a preserving and cooling unit. no of the The tracks F a novel features of my invention is that the air is not merely allowed to pass over the top of the ice, but is caused to circulate in the midst of the chipped or broken we in all-directions through the container.

I do not purpose to limit my invention to the exact constructions of the legs and passages shown in the drawings, since any passages open at the top so that the air may rise upwardly therethrough and be discharged-into the ice container would come" within the spirit of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: p I

1. In a refrigerator having an ice'chamber, the combination of tracks in saidchamacross the bottom of said body thereby pro-j viding uninterrupted air passages between said legs across said container, the bottom of said body portion being provided with openings between said legs, the upper and lower ends of the walls of said legs being provided with stiffening flanges, shields whereby ice and water are prevented from passing through said openings between said" legs in the bottom of said bo y portion, and members attached to the lower ends of two or more of said legs adapted to engage with said tracks so as to allow saidcontainer to be moved into or out of said chamber on said tracks in ,a direction substantiallv longitudinally of said container.

2. In a refrigerator having an ice chamber, the combination oftracks in said cham ber adapted to be made to extend outside thereof, with a metal ice container provided with an upperbody portion having a plurallty of downwardly projecting legs open attheir lower ends and which extend in sub stantially parallel spaced relation across the bottom of said body portion, the bottom of said body ortion being above the middle line of sai vcontainer-and being rovidd with openings between said legs, t e upper and lower ends of the walls of said'leg's' being provided with stiffening flanges prd :1,

jeeting'outwardly, shields whereby ice and water are prevented from passing through said openings between said legs in the bot"; tom of sai attached to the lower ends of two or more body portion, and members of said legs ada ted to engage with said tracks so as to a low said container to be In witness whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

GUSTAV 'J. GRUENDLER. 

